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Antti Marine is opening doors to new opportunities

Having received a surge of new orders over the past 12 months, the specialist door company is witnessing remarkable success. Markko Takkinen tells Lindsay James what’s next

Antti Marine has supplied doors for AIDAstella, built by Meyer Werft

This article was first published in the 2018 issue of Cruise & Ferry Interiors. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.

As newbuilds get bigger and better than ever, the demand for high quality doors increases. This is a trend that Markko Takkinen, Antti Marine’s commercial director, has witnessed over the last 20 years – and one that he expects to continue. “We’ve got a record number of orders this year, with more to come,” he says. “We’re prepared for this upsurge.”

Takkinen is no stranger to success. His company has produced 40% of all doors for large cruise ships globally. In its production facility in Salo in Western Finland, Antti Marine has to date produced a quarter of a million doors for 300 cruise ships.

Takkinen says this achievement can be attributed to his team of experts who have a huge amount of experience in the industry. “In a busy marketplace, we are the company that will always take the weight off of our customers’ shoulders,” he says. “We like to take the time to think the way our customers do and we are as proactive as possible.”

To many, doors may seem like a simple product – but Takkinen is quick to point out the complexities. “For the majority of our clients – which include many of the big cruise lines – we are manufacturing mass-tailored solutions that are not available in a standard catalogue,” he says. “Every product will feature a new design, colour, finish and technical features related to sound reduction or locking mechanisms. We need to meet all of these expectations while working to tighter than ever deadlines and meeting strict budgets.”

When you consider that the latest ship builds such as AIDA Cruises’ AIDAnova and Royal Caribbean’s new Spectrum of the Seas, will require in excess of 4,000 doors each, then the size of the challenge becomes apparent. But it’s not something that Takkinen is phased by. “We will always do our best to go above and beyond to meet and exceed expectations every time,” he says.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Takkinen reveals that he’s working on a new, top secret project that he believes might just revolutionise his product in the years to come. “I can’t disclose much at the moment, but it’s extremely exciting,” he says. “It will fuse IT with tradition to create a door that is truly groundbreaking. Watch this space!”

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